Although I have one query (this answer does answer it, but I have a doubt)… I just bought a domain which had the creation date as 2010 but after acquisition upon checking I found that it has been reset to 2014. So, from what I understand from your article, this could not be undone anyways because this particular domain’s status said as ‘Expired’ and I got it for under $10 from godaddy?
Since high quality expired domains are in low supply, the huge numbers of marketers competing for those drop domains tend to drive prices up. Also, if you use an exchange, you’re basically lucky to get whatever you can afford. In other words, niche specificity isn't guaranteed. This is going to be a problem because as Google continues to evolve, it is cracking down on domain niche relevance. In other words, its software is fast evolving to the point that it can tell what the niche of a particular domain is. If your private blog network is a patchwork of expired domains that involve many different and dissimilar niches, then you might be in trouble. You are at great risk of being penalized by Google.

Contains, Starts, Ends You can use the search bar to search for domains that contain particular keywords you are seeking, e.g. a search for "car" will yield results for all expired domain names that contain the term "car". You can also use the search tool to find domains that begin, or end with the search term too, with the drop down box next to the search form.

Yes, I know, it seems backwards that you’d have to compete in an auction for a domain name that may never be caught. Other people feel the same way and many don’t compete as a result of that. But that’s the way the drop catching service was set up. Who knows, it may mean less competition for you since others do not like that model, which benefits the company rather than the user.
There is no easy way to explain “all” things about expired domain names. As you stated Michael, Network Solutions domain names go to the partnered domain auction service NameJet.com BUT, not “all” do… NSI customers have the option to opt-out of having expired domains go to auction. If a customer picks this option, the domain name would go through the drop process and go PendingDelete around the 71st day after the expire date. When it is released from the registry, the domain name is fair game to the major dropcatching services and the private ones. This still doesn’t mean anybody would grab it, and the domain may become available to hand register.
They are easy to type and remember: You can’t get a easy to remember new domain name without paying huge bucks these days. Gone are the days where you can simply grab almost any incredible domain name just by paying a couple of bucks. This is one of the major reasons most people look for expired domains because most expired domains are short and sweet.
I had two domains, a .com and .net with godaddy. I’m beyond their redemption period ($80 fee), but they said it should be released back to the public domain soon and I may be able to get it back. Before I knew this, I paid $12.99 plus ican fees for the .com thinking it was available as the rep told me she was able to add it their cart, and I paid a $24.95 fee for back ordering my .net domain. Shortly thereafter, I received an email from godaddy saying:
Next, some of these expired domain names have ranked in high authority sites that are ranked or had ranked themselves. Besides, some of these domain names are worth a fortune. For example, domain names sell for about ten to twenty dollars each. However, those that are the most sought after can go for over $ 2500 a month because they have lots of traffic back links or rankings.The last advantage is that you don’t have to spend much to find expired domains.

As mentioned earlier, finding such expired domains can prove to be a daunting task especially if you don’t have a tool to make that process a walk in the park for you. Instead of spending your time searching for tools that you are not even sure will help you find expired domain names with lots of traffic and backlinks, how about you try a game-changing tool integrated into Webfire 3.0 software called Expired Domain Finder and make your expired domain search a lot easier?

If you bid at NameJet *after* the domain name moves to Pending Delete status, then it’s too late for NameJet to take advantage of their relationship with eNom and take control of the name. So then eNom thinks, “no interest from NameJet users; we’ll just drop it” and it goes through the regular deletion process — where the fastest fingers can register it. In some cases, investors don’t want to pay the $59 or $69 fee at NameJet and if there are no bids they can likely get it for $18.99 at Pheenix or using other dropcatching services.
It’s easier to rank higher with expired domains: Depending upon your domain age, page authority, trust flow, expired domains tend to rank really well when compared to new domains. Most new domains don’t have any DA, page authority or trust flow so it’s really harder to rank well in Google. This won’t happen with the expired domains as they are already established well and might be getting decent amount of traffic from search engines.
If you buy a domain from a 3rd party, the backlinks are valuable. I always wait a few months before redirecting, so just set up a quick minisite until two page rank updates have passed and then go ahead and 301 redirect. However, it seems that you'll get the link juice from the back links, the anchor text is ignored by Google. Buying a domain at Godaddy TDName expired auctions, seem to not count as a dropped domain if you immediately set up a mini-site.
It’s easier to rank higher with expired domains: Depending upon your domain age, page authority, trust flow, expired domains tend to rank really well when compared to new domains. Most new domains don’t have any DA, page authority or trust flow so it’s really harder to rank well in Google. This won’t happen with the expired domains as they are already established well and might be getting decent amount of traffic from search engines.

Here's a test I have in process. I bought an old $5 closeout domain from Godaddy TDname expired auction. I put a quick minisite up and linked to it with a crazy anchor text phrase. The domain is ranking for that crazy term now. It's gone through one pagerank update and I'm waiting for a second to come. Then I'll redirect the domain to another minisite. I suspect the second site won't rank for the anhor text, but we'll see.

NameJet is $69 or $79 per backorder, so there’s that. And they don’t have the best drop catching technology. If they’re an auction house partner, then they always get them but that’s because they’re partners not because their drop catching technology is great. Plus, when you put a backorder at NameJet that’s public information and other investors can see your domain name backorder with one bid.
Your best chance of getting it is contacting the current registrant and negotiating to buy it. After that, your best chance is buying it in auction or finding it listed with a “buy it now” price at a marketplace. Your other option is to find a broker who can negotiate on your behalf (if the domain name sells for a few thousand or higher…brokers likely won’t have the time or inclination to negotiate smaller deals).
So, what to do? Simply, you must use someones other hard work and thinking. People have already contemplated all possible variations, synonyms, they know how domain names are valued, know about keywords, type-in traffic etc. Every day tens of thousands domains names are expiring. Every single day. That is hell of a lot expired domains to pick from. The reasons why people "let" domains expire are various. Could be somethins as banal as forgeting to renew, could be as serious as physical death. Many let domains expire because they don't need them any more. But that is not your bussiness to think about.
The advanced search feature lets you limit by domain extension What URL Domain Extensions Stand For and Why They Are Needed What URL Domain Extensions Stand For and Why They Are Needed There's a lot more to the internet that just .com, .org, and .net sites. The world of top-level domains exploded a few years ago. But what is a TLD? Let's find out. Read More , age, number of characters, and type. Types include expiring, auction, buy now, and more.
What you really want to do first is scroll down to where it says, referring pages for anchor phrases. All that is is the anchor text distribution to that site. As you can see here this looks like a very natural link profile. Brand name, a product that they had, no text, URL, shopping cart, wireless government. These are the keywords that were related to what that site was about. Okay?
While getting a new domain name will give your site a clean slate and allow you to start a fresh marketing campaign, you may not be aware of the fact that some expired domains come with a high Page Rank value. A company that buys such a domain will not have to work so hard on website promotion and backlink building techniques. Thanks for updating this really informative post!
I am a rather gray-hat affiliate marketer by trade, but I"m looking more into going into local SEO and blogging ventures that I feel will be most sustainable. I am having serious moral issues with using any of my link building strategies, but the one I'm struggling morally and long-term strategy-wise is the use of a manufactured link-juice-flowing-thick private blog network. I believe the majority of these will ultimately fall by the wayside in the future when their social value and content are proven to lack substance by machine reading and advanced social metrics.

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